Laughing Matter
by KBZ
Summary: It comes to the attention of Team Japan that none of them have ever heard Shin laugh. This (FOR SOME REASON) really bothers Sena. Pre-Slash, ShinSena, implied one-sided ManySena.


"Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen Shin laugh." Monta says. Monta and Sena are walking home together, quizzing each other over running routes for the World Cup.

"What? No, that's… are you sure?" Sena asks. "That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about Shin to correct you."

Monta's eating a banana and looking at a play card, eyes scrunched up trying to memorize it. "You guys hang out a bunch, right?" he asks. He sounds completely off-hand and unaccusing, but Sena feels his cheeks grow warm as if he's been caught red-handed.

"We train," Sena says, looking intently at a play card but retaining no information.

"You guys never once joked around? I get that you're not a comedic genius but you can be pretty funny."

"Is this your way of telling me I'm actually not funny?"

"You think we can run this play together?" Monta points out a card, dropping the subject as easily as it had come up.

'Monta says a lot of things,' Sena thinks when he can't get a nagging sensation out of his mind. He smiles at his friend, but finds himself only half-listening. 'Shin's probably laughed around me before at some point… and I don't go out of my way to tell jokes, so it makes sense if he hasn't? And I'm usually too out of breath to talk all that much…'

. . .

He lays awake on his bed that night, staring at his ceiling fan. Now that he thinks about it, he's never really had a conversation with Shin about anything non-football related, has he? Shin is his own person, yet Sena knows next to nothing about him.

'I _have_ to know things about Shin! I have to! He's my rival after all!' Sena pushes the covers off and heads to his desk. On a piece of scratch paper he scribbles out a list of things that he knows about Shin. The list reads:

_Shin Facts_

_Goes to Oujou_

_Plays football_

_Really fast and strong_

_Eats healthy_

_Bad with technology (really strong)_

'Okay maybe I don't know that much about him. Does that make me a bad friend? I don't even know if Shin would consider me a friend at all. But it would be nice, and it'd probably help with team chemistry for the World Cup.' Sena chews on the tip of his pen for a moment longer before deciding to head to the library tomorrow morning before the practice.

. . .

"A joke book," Yamato says sounding affronted. Team Japan is changing back out of their gear after a combine practice. Yamato's pinching 'One-thousand and One Sports Jokes' between thumb and forefinger an arm's distance away from himself.

"Pft, what kinda of high schooler still reads those?" Mitzumachi asks, towel in hand instead of around his waist.

("Put some fucking clothes on," someone calls from the back.)

Kakei doesn't say anything, but conveys his thoughts (_They must have no sense of wit_) by a dismissive flicker of his eyes.

Monta's eyes slide to Sena involuntarily. Sena supposes he should have known better than try to hide things from his teammates. He has, after all, no tact.

"I borrowed it from the library," Sena admits, snatching the book away from Yamato's outstretched hand and stuffing it into his duffel. He looks around \ for Shin, but he seems to have already finished changing and left the room. "It's for… research purposes."

"Look, it's okay," Yamato slips on his jacket. "Not everyone can be as athletic, charming, smart, and good looking," _as me_ is implied.

"I think Sena can be terribly charming when he chooses to be," Marco adds as he smooths over his coat lapels.

"That means his grades have to be trash," Agon says from out of nowhere. He looks Sena up and down and sneers, "Which is no fucking surprise."

(Kotaro shakes his head sadly at Sena as he exits. "Not smart." Kotaro's catchphrase sounds different. His voice is full of remorse. Sena feels like he's in a waking nightmare.)

"Bro, I was kidding yesterday," Monta says as an aside, one arm around Sena conspiratorially. "You have a great personality and you're funny, I swear." A little louder he says, "Guys? Right? Sena's funny?"

People nod vaguely but avoid eye contact with Sena.

"I think you're funny," Riku says, glaring around the locker room like he's daring anyone to disagree… or to agree for that matter. Somehow that doesn't make Sena feel much better.

"It's just…" Sena says, trying to clear his name. He fidgets with his duffel. He's just glad that Hiruma is not here to witness it firsthand. "You know Shin?"

"Heard of him," Kakei says.

"I don't think he's ever laughed," Sena says. "Like, within anyone's presence? Or… ever? Sakuraba, am I wrong?"

"You see him more than I do," Sakuraba says and shrugs. He pauses to think. "But… I guess you're right. Huh…"

"All I'm hearing is that there's now a contest to make Shin laugh," Mitzumachi says. Still naked, still holding a towel and not using it. "I say the only rule is no tickling. Only because I'd be kinda scared to get that close to him."

Yamato braces a hand against Sena's locker, preventing him from escaping. "I was joking about the personality thing. Well, more like fl–"

However, Sena is now focused on his new mission, so he quickly ducks beneath Yamato's arm and steps up onto a bench in the middle of the locker room.

"I mean isn't that a little sad? We're his teammates, and we've never even heard him laugh!"

Yamato squints at Sena, "You seem… oddly stuck on this idea."

"For all we know," Sena continues, earnest, "he's never even laughed."

"You're _really_ emotionally invested in this, huh?" Riku asks, also suspicious.

Akaba, who had remained mostly silent except for his melodramatic sighs, speaks up, "Fuu, if this is what will content you, then we shall make Oujou's Shin laugh."

"I-It's not about me," Sena protests. This is one-hundred percent about Shin! Sena is _not_ emotionally invested, why would Riku even say that!

At that moment, Shin walks back in to the locker room. The other football players quiet down. Shin doesn't seem to notice. He picks up a sweatshirt that he'd left, and then heads out again, but not before giving Sena a quiet head nod.

"Dude your face is _so_ red—" Monta whispers to him once the door closed.

"Anyway!" Sena shrills over Monta's hushed words, "At the very least it would be interesting to see what Shin finds funny."

"He is peculiar," Kakei says, then glances towards Sena, "but I do agree with him on certain things."

"You guys are all over-thinking this," Monta says. He shakes his head disapprovingly. "Watch me finish this right here, right now. Yo, Shin!" he yells out the hallway.

No response.

"Okay, so he ignored me," Monta says. "Tomorrow!"

"Sena, why don't you call him back?" Marco asks. He flashes a black wallet in his hand. "This appears to be Shin's."

"Ah, right away!" Sena opens the locker room door, pokes his head out, and says, "Um, Shin? You left your wallet."

Approaching foot steps are heard by the others in the changing room. Shin enters the locker room again.

"Thank you. I thought I had it."

("So strange that I found it all the way over here," Marco says innocently.)

"I have been bested yet again by my greatest rival," Monta says.

"What a remarkable power," Akaba says, looking between Shin and Sena.

Yamato's eye is twitching.

Before Shin can leave, Monta cuts him off, pointing a triumphant finger at the other. "Shin! You're a weird guy—"

("Monta!" Sena says, positively scandalized on Shin's behalf. Shin is unperturbed.)

"So I know what you're humor is. You're an anti-hero, so that means you gotta like anti-jokes!"

"Why is the monkey still talking?" Mitzumachi asks. He's mostly clothed now, much to everyone's immense relief.

"I can't watch this," Kid says. "But I can't look away."

"It's like a car crash," Marco says.

Shin, for his part, continues standing like a statue, as if to say 'go on.'

"Why," Monta begins, "couldn't the airplane fly?"

"I'm not familiar with the mechanics behind aviation, so I don't know," Shin says. "I'm not very good with technology actually."

("He's aware!" Sena whispers to himself, shocked. "He knows his weaknesses!")

"Because the pilot was a loaf of bread!" Monta finishes, pointing victoriously up at the air.

Shin glances briefly to Sena with a 'did I hear that correctly' face. Sena nods back, 'you did hear that correctly, I am so sorry.'

"You know… like… it's an anti-joke…" Monta is desperately looking around for back up. No one will meet his eye. His hair is graying; he's aged twenty years at the hands of public humiliation. "Y'know… like… bread? Passing a pilot test? Hah! That's impossible… Ha ha… guys?"

"Okay, your time is up," Mitzumachi says. "Shin's a physical guy. He's gotta be about slapstick."

"Where the hell did you get that rake?" Kakei asks, entering panic mode. "_Don't_."

"Bro, relax, I saw this on TV," Mitzumachi aligns the rake on the ground just so, does a few, light test-steps on it. "You watching, Shin? Sweet, here goes."

Mitzumachi steps on the rake, and it smashes against his nose. The crowd gives a few incredulous laughs at the sheer absurdity and stupidity. Shin is unmoved but now looks a little confused.

"Shit, I thought that would work. Anyone got a banana peel?"

"_No_."

"You are all going about this the wrong way," Yamato says, intervening. He takes the joke book from Sena's duffel. "Watch the master work. Can I get some assistance here, please?"

Taka, with an air of someone who has gone along with foolish ideas in order for the ideas to be over with quickly, approaches and holds the book open for Yamato to read off of. Taka gives Sena an exasperated look, but Yamato steps between them to prevent any sort of comradery from forming between those two.

"_Ahem_," he says. "Why don't fish play football?"

Shin remains silent, resigned.

"They're scared of nets." Someone in the crowd boos. "Nothing? Okay, how about: why did Scrooge end up with the football?"

"There's no one named Scrooge on this team," Shin says.

"Because the ghost of Christmas passed," Yamato blinks. He fake-glares at Sena, "These are awful." Sena holds his hands up to plead his innocence. "Okay, rapid-fire now because we all want to leave, and _one_ of these has to land."

Shin appears to mentally prepare himself. Sena has never admired the man's patience more than now. He watches on in horror while nursing Monta back to health.

"How do footballers stay cool? They sit next to their fans. Why did the coach go to the bank? To get his quarter back. What do football players wear on Halloween? Face masks. What kind of tea do footballers drink? Penaltea. Why was the short ghost asked to join the football team? They needed a little team spirit. Why didn't the dog want to play football? It was a boxer."

Taka turns the page.

"I'm going to miss my train," Shin says before Yamato can go onto another monotone, mile-a-minute joke frenzy. He side-steps, then exits.

"Fuu," Akaba says and nothing else. Everyone seems to agree that is the right sentiment. People slowly start to trickle out.

"I meant well," Sena ducks his head as he leans back against the lockers.

Taka puts a gentle hand on Sena's thin shoulder and leans close to whisper into Sena's ear, "The path to hell is paved with good intentions."

Sena stumbles over himself trying to back up but is trapped against the wall and Taka. "Um," he says.

"_I_ would call that a success," Yamato says, getting between Sena and Taka yet again. "We figured out what didn't work. We'll make that robot laugh yet. See you tomorrow," he says breezily enough. Taka raises a hand in a vague goodbye and the two leave.

Monta wheezes, finally awakening. "The bread joke is funny. It is, right Sena?"

"Eh…"

. . .

Sena skims over the joke book in bed later that night, more as something to do than anything else really. He thinks to what Taka says. Was it really any of his business to subject Shin to all this? No… but it was his business, _as Shin's friend_, to see that Shin had a good time!

Pit scratches at his bedroom door for Sena to let her in. He rolls out of bed and cracks the door open. Pit darts in and immediately jumps into the warm bed covers. She squirms onto her back and rolls her front paws up then looks at Sena, waiting. Sena slides into bed (taking up approximately a quarter of the space and leaving the rest to Pit), and then pulls the blanket over them both. Pit relaxes her front paws over the covers, perfectly tucked in.

Sena's mind is almost overloaded with the sheer cuteness. He snaps a quick photo on his phone before explaining his situation to Pit.

"What do you think I should do?" he asks her.

Pit yawns, blinking slower and slower.

"Well, it's not so humdrum to me," Sena mutters. Pit lets out the barest purr. "It would be like… I don't know… never hearing you purr or something," but her eyes are closed and he can hear her whistley breathing indicating that she's fallen asleep. "No help whatsoever."

Sena plays today's events over in his mind and then buries his face into his pillow (carefully, to avoid waking Pit).

. . .

Mitzumachi shows up the next day with a bag.

"Prop comedy," he tells Sena sagely.

"I don't think…" but his words fall on deaf ears. Sena watches, entranced, as Mitzumachi dons a rainbow wig, a red nose, and fake lapel flower. Shin is taking pre-workout when Mitzumachi gets close. "So? Whadaya think?"

Shin turns his back to Mitzumachi, continues drinking.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Marco says, "but aren't there usually… comedic gags associated with props?"

"Oh," Mitzumachi says.

"Did you really think dressing like this would make anyone laugh?" Yamato asks.

"Listen, I'm just trying out all the options. I'm the cupid of friendship, and frankly, I'm a little appalled I hadn't even realized what a sourpuss Shin was until Sena said so."

"I never said that," Sena shakes his head desperately at Shin, "I never implied that or used those words. _Never_."

Hiruma, who had been talking with the coaches and other captains, walks closer. He takes a picture of Mitzumachi and writes something down in his black notebook before anyone can process what happened. "What the fuck do we have here?"

Mitzumachi, a fool through and through, doesn't even flinch. "I'm trying to bring good cheer to the team and foster chemistry. And make Shin laugh."

Hiruma turns around and locks eyes with Sena. 'You were involved,' the look seems to accuse.

'Ah, I've been caught.' Sena cowers and tries to hide it as a coughing fit.

"Well, if we're quite done here, we got fucking practice to start. Listen up for the day's plan!"

And that's that. The coaches split up the players into pairs and then distribute today's training menu. Shin and Sena end up together.

They're resting between sprinting routes when Shin speaks up. Shin has never initiated a conversation with Sena before. Sena's so surprised he almost misses what Shin says.

"Why does it matter?" Shin says.

"The… the laughing thing?" Sena squeaks. Is Shin angry? Angry at _him_? Well it _is_ his fault that everyone is stepping into Shin's business. Shin is the reserved type, so this must be unwelcome and unwanted.

Shin's serious, but there's no heat in his voice… just confusion. "I never thought it would be something that affected the team so profoundly."

"N-no, not at all! It doesn't affect the team, _at all_!"

"My sister tells me I have trouble reading the room."

Shit. Sena doesn't know what to say to that. It's getting hot in here, in his helmet, oh boy, he's sweating. Why is he so nervous? "I, um… it's just something I noticed. The laughing, or lack thereof, it doesn't matter, um, because y-you're a reserved person, which is fine! It's totally fine! There's nothing wrong with that! That's just your personality! I admire that a lot!" What was his point again? The sun was getting to Sena.

"Then why did you bring it up?"

"Uh…" Shit. Sena doesn't have a good answer to that. "I… I definitely overstepped, I think. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put p-pressure on you to, y'know, or anything – I was just concerned… if you were… having fun…" Sena finishes lamely.

Shin thinks about it for a moment. "I suppose I do, when we play together."

"Oh?" Sena says, voice tight and high pitched. He's thankful his helmet is hiding his face. His cheeks feel like they're on fire. "That's, um, r-really good to hear."

"I've never been someone easy to laugh," Shins shrugs. He gets up, looking ready to start the next set of drills.

"Y-yeah, there's nothing wrong with that!" Sena stands up, dusting off his legs. "Sorry again."

"Don't worry about it. Stress will stunt your height," Shin says.

Sena gapes, his breath caught in his throat so that it exits choppily, something between a laugh, a gasp, and a question, "Wuh-huh-huh?"

It's the least flattering noise Sena has ever made.

Shin _snickers_, and Sena _almost_ mistakes it for a cough.

"Did you—was that—did anyone else _hear_?" Sena's head is whipping around to see if anyone else bared witness to—to—it wasn't a bad laugh, as far as laughs go…

"You ready?" Shin asks.

"Y-yeah," Sena says. Truthfully, he feels like he's entered a different dimension. Hearing Shin's 'laugh' (or as close to a laugh that Shin will ever emit) has opened Sena's third eye.

(Shin cuts an imposing figure with the sun behind him like that.)

(Sena is looking at things differently.)

. . .

Hiruma had unofficially put an end to the team's shenanigans earlier, which allowed for people to leave right after practice since they knew that they wouldn't be missing out on anything.

Sena finds himself squished next to Shin (who's doing a one-arm hold thingy) on the train, the others who shared their route in a different car. Sena and Shin only share two stops before Sena has to make a switch, but the time seems to drag on. Sena keeps fidgeting, shaking his leg, checking his text messages, looking at old photos saved on his phone. (Looking anywhere, really, except at Shin.)

Sena tries to ignore his stupid thoughts by opening up the album he has dedicated to Pit. The first photo that pops up is the one from last night, where Pit is perfectly tucked in.

Sena freezes at what he hears next to him.

Shin just—for the second time on the _same day_, Sena just heard Shin _laugh_.

Well, it was more of a chuckle, but still!

"Is that your cat?" Shin asks. He's peering at the tiny screen intently.

"Her name's Pit," Sena says in a daze.

Shin glances at Sena, "Cute." Then stares a moment longer at the photo, "I like it."

"M-me too." Shin just used the word 'cute'. Sena doesn't know what to do with himself.

Shin nods, then returns his focus to his one-arm hold. As if nothing happened.

The overhead-speakers announce Sena's exit. Sena waves to Shin as he leaves. He feels like he's wading through pudding or something, and his brain keeps swimming. Did he hit his head? Is he okay? Shin seems unaffected, but keeps his eyes on Sena until the train departs again.

Sena takes a moment to recover on one of the benches. Maybe it's a good thing Shin doesn't laugh often. Sena doesn't think he could handle it.

. . .

Before bed that night, Sena decides to edit his list of Shin facts. Pit is already curled up in bed as he looks over the list once more, satisfied with what he reads. Then he sticks the paper in an envelope, puts the envelope in an old shoe box, and stuffs the shoe box to the farthest corner under his bed before going to sleep.

The list now reads:

_Shin Facts_

_Goes to Oujou_

_Plays football_

_Really fast and strong_

_Eats healthy_

_Bad with technology (really strong)_

_Likes Pit (cats in general?)_

_Nice smile/laugh_


End file.
